I never doubted that my parents loved me. I accepted that the time they had for me was extremely limited. Even now, looking back on their dedication to the Church, I have no doubt that its teachings played an enormous role in their putting their [religious] responsibilities before their family at all times. In many ways, they sacrificed family for what the Church considered to be for the "greater good."

—Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of David Miscavige, leader of the Church of Scientology

Forgiveness does not come from a position of powerlessness but from a place of empowerment and a degree of safety. . . . Justice, imperfect though it may be, makes forgiveness possible. The wound may heal even if the scar remains. In this healing, the body survives and may thrive, in spite of the scars and memories. Whether for a nation, a neighborhood, or an individual who has suffered trauma at the hands of an aggressor, justice is the key to healing and to a future.

—Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune

He told me that, because he was a man of God and he represented Christ in the flesh, it would be spiritual and natural for him to take care of me sexually. . . . But even though I felt that it was wrong, afterwards I thought, because [he] said he was a man of God and he brought up those things from the Bible, somehow, it was okay, or holy.

—Lindsay Tornambe, child sexual abuse survivor

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

—Kahlil Gibran

I knew nothing about the world. I wanted so much more for my life than the church was ever going to allow me to have. I wanted to have friends. I wanted to work. I wanted to travel. I wanted to meet new people and experience new things. I was thrust into this world, this whole new world without really understanding anything about it, and I was forced to for a very long time to kind of figure it all out for myself. . . . We were taught that every thought or feeling that we had that wasn't aligned with the church's teachings was the devil speaking in our ear. So even after I left, for years I was filled with guilt and shame and terror. I was trapped inside this prison of my mind, like my body had left the church but huge portions of myself were still there. I realized then, I have to give myself a voice. I have to speak my thoughts and my feelings, and I have to share with the world what I’d been through. If I don’t, there’s really not any reason for me to go on.